Size a concern now more than ever for Sixers

Sacramento Kings guard Jimmer Fredette shoots over 76ers defender Lavoy Allen during their game on Jan. 2. Allen is out with a strained calf, leaving the Sixers once again lacking in big men. (AP Photo/Steve Yeater)

PHILADELPHIA — If there were ever a day a media member had a chance to win a press room wager that he could make Brett Brown express a wish that Kwame Brown was still around, Monday would have been the day.

No one made such a wager, and Brown didn’t express such a desire to see the first-ballot Disappointment Hall of Famer after the 76ers finished practice at PCOM. Then again, no one asked.

One thing is for sure: The head coach would like to see someone with some size on the floor Wednesday when the Sixers (12-25) host the Bobcats (15-23).

It seems Lavoy Allen, who didn’t play in Saturday’s loss to the Knicks and didn’t practice Monday because of a strained calf, remains at least a week away from getting back on the court.

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“He’s still out,” Brown said. “They are still treating him very cautiously and taking it slowly.”

After watching Amare Stoudemire bring his bald-tire knees off the Knicks’ bench and put up 21 points in 22 minutes, Brown said he appreciates what Temple product Allen brings more after seeing what happens when he isn’t around.

“He has a low center of gravity, he can move his feet and he can make an 18-foot jumper,” Brown said of Allen, who averaged 8.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in less than 16 minutes per game when the Sixers ran off four straight wins during their West Coast trip. “When we don’t have him, you appreciate how thin we are and how small we are. We’re not as physical. I’m not going to make Thaddeus (Young) gain 50 pounds and grow five inches …

“Maybe he can stay behind Amare. Maybe he can get in there and deal with Detroit’s big and the league-leading offensive rebounding team.”

The thinness in the frontcourt has been a bugaboo for the Sixers even with Spencer Hawes and Allen healthy. From the Kwame Brown debacle, to rookie Nerlens Noel’s interminable knee problem, to Arnett Moultrie’s surgically repaired ankle, the Sixers have been out-rebounded by 84 and out-shot-blocked a stupefying 93 (256-163) in 37 games.

“There is no margin for error,” Brown said, “whether it’s Lavoy’s injury, or Tony (Wroten) not being there, if one of the Big Three (Spencer Hawes, Young and Evan Turner) aren’t the Big Three … You can become ordinary really quick. You are so vulnerable.”

If there is a dim semblance of light on the horizon for the Sixers’ beleaguered big men, it’s that Moultrie was on the practice floor Monday and could be closer to his first action this season than Allen and his sore calf are to returning,.

“(Moultrie) played some 5-on-5 and is starting to get back into game shape, starting to get his weight down,” Brown said. “I thought he looked good today, but he’s still a fair ways off. (In) regard to how many days or games (before he’s activated), I’m not sure.

“It’s ready-fire-aim. You get in there and go, and we’ll figure it out as we’re moving along. I do need some big bodies. As you start playing NBA games, you start feeling very small, very often.”